System and method for authoritative item identification based on facility operations

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments of a system and method for authoritative item identification based on facility operations are described. Embodiments may include an authoritative item identification component configured to, for each particular item of multiple items in inventory of a materials handling facility, determine multiple identifiers for the particular item, where one or more of the multiple identifiers are electronically obtained from a unit of the particular item during operations of the materials handling facility. The authoritative item identification component may, for each of the multiple identifiers, determine a quantity of instances in which that identifier was electronically obtained from a given unit of the particular item. The authoritative item identification component may, based on a statistical analysis of the quantities, determine one of the multiple identifiers as being an authoritative identifier for the particular item. The authoritative item identification component may identify one or more units based on the authoritative identifiers.

BACKGROUND

In a distribution system, a retailer or other product distributor (whichmay collectively be referred to as distributors) typically maintains aninventory of various items at one or more distribution centers. Theinventory items are ordered from one or more vendors, received at thedistribution centers as inbound shipments, and stocked in inventory ofthe distribution centers. In an order fulfillment process, orders foritems may be received from customers of the distributor. Units of theordered items are picked from various locations of inventory in thedistribution centers, processed for shipping, and shipped as outboundshipments to the customers. A distribution network may include anynumber of such distribution centers in order to fulfill customer demand.In some cases, inventory items within a distribution center may betracked by one or more identifiers, some of which are non-unique acrossdifferent items.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a logical representation or view of the operation ofan example materials handling facility, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a data store of item identifier data that includesvarious identifiers, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an agent electronically obtaining a physicalidentifier from a unit, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for monitoring andupdating usage rates of physical identifiers, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for identifyingreceived units based on a list of authoritative identifiers as well asupdating an inventory model based on such identification, according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for determiningauthoritative identifiers and determining the item identity of a unitbased on such authoritative identifiers, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example system suitable for implementing any ofthe various elements of the system and method for authoritative itemidentification based on facility operations, according to variousembodiments.

While various embodiments are described herein by way of example forseveral embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the artwill recognize that various embodiments are not limited to theembodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that thedrawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limitembodiments to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, theintention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternativesfalling within the spirit and scope of various embodiments as defined bythe appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizationalpurposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of thedescription or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word“may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potentialto), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly,the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but notlimited to.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Various embodiments of a system and method for authoritative itemidentification based on facility operations are described. In variousembodiments, elements of the system and method for authoritative itemidentification may be integrated with operations of a materials handlingfacility, such as materials handling facility 100 described below.Materials handling networks, such as fulfillment networks, may include avariety of materials handling facilities including elements forperforming a variety of operations, an overview of which is providedherein below. Such materials handling facilities may be configured toprocess units of inbound inventory for shipment to customers (and/orother materials handling facilities within a distribution network).

FIG. 1 illustrates a logical representation or view of the operation ofone example of a materials handling facility 100 according to variousembodiments. In various embodiments, a materials handling facility mayinclude one or more facilities that process, store, and/or distributeunits of items including but not limited to warehouses, distributioncenters, hubs, order fulfillment centers, nodes in a supply chainnetwork, retail establishments, shipping facilities, stock storagefacilities, or any other facility configured to process units of items.For example, this Figure may illustrate a fulfillment center of aproduct distributor or e-commerce enterprise. Multiple customers 10 maysubmit orders 20 to the product distributor, where each order 20specifies one or more units of items from inventory 30 to be shipped tothe customer that submitted the order. To fulfill the customer orders20, the one or more units of items specified in each order may beretrieved, or picked, from inventory 30 (which may also be referred toas stock storage) in the materials handling facility, as indicated at40. Picked units may be delivered or conveyed, if necessary, to one ormore stations in the materials handling facility for sorting 50 intotheir respective orders, packing 60, and finally shipping 70 to thecustomers 10. In various embodiments, picked units may be delivered toan induction station, where the units are inducted into a sorting system(e.g., a sorting mechanism, sorting process, or some combinationthereof). One example of such a sorting system may include a Crisplant®sorter. The units may then be routed to particular destinations inaccordance with the requests (orders) currently being processed, e.g. tosorting or packing stations, under direction of the control system.Various other sorting mechanisms and processes (which may be representedby sorting 50) may be utilized in some embodiments. A picked, packed andshipped order does not necessarily include all of the units ordered bythe customer; an outgoing shipment to a customer may include only asubset of the ordered units available to ship at one time from oneinventory-storing location. In other cases, units of the order may besplit into multiple shipments for a variety of reasons including but notlimited to space and/or economic efficiency.

To replenish inventory 30, materials handling facility 100 may alsoinclude a receiving 80 operation for receiving shipments of stock fromone or more sources (e.g., vendors) and for placing the received stockinto inventory 30. The receiving 80 operation may also receive andprocess returned purchased or rented units or orders from customers. Atleast some of these units are typically returned to inventory 30. Thevarious operations of a materials handling facility may be located inone building or facility, or alternatively may be spread or subdividedacross two or more buildings or facilities.

As used herein, the term “item” may refer to a particular type of itemand the term “unit” may refer to a particular instance of an item. Forinstance, an item might refer to a particular brand and model of atelevision, and multiple units of that same television might be stockedas inventory within a materials handling facility.

Also illustrated in FIG. 1, various embodiments may include a controlsystem 160 which may control some or all of the operations withinmaterials handling facility 100, including those operations illustrated.In one example, control system 160 may direct units of items toparticular locations within the materials handling facility (e.g., fororder fulfillment). For instance, the control system 160 may track itemsthat are received at receiving stage 80 and direct such items to anappropriate location within inventory 30. Such directing may beimplemented by generating instructions for agents, including but notlimited to human agents within the materials handling facility and/orautomated elements (e.g., robotic, automated devices, mechanizeddevices, etc.). Control system 160 may perform similar direction ofitems within the various other operational stages of the materialshandling facility (e.g., picking, sorting, packing, shipping, etc.).

FIG. 1 also illustrates an inventory planning and control system 180,which may be configured to generate and/or maintain an inventory model185. Inventory model 185 may include a stored representation of theitems that are stored as inventory 30. For instance, inventory model 185may include a listing of multiple items and respective locations (e.g.,a bin, container, shelving location, or other location) at which eachitem is stored within the materials handling facility 100 (or proximateto the materials handling facility 100). In various embodiments,inventory planning and control system 180 may periodically oraperiodically update inventory model 185 to represent an updatedrepresentation of inventory 30. For instance, in response to the receiptof units of inventory at receiving 80 and/or the removal of units ofinventory via any of the illustrated processes (e.g., shipping 70), theinventory planning and control system 180 may update inventory model 185with new data representing the aforesaid changes in the physical unitsof inventory 30. In various embodiments, inventory model 185 may bestored as data within a data store, which may be configured as adatabase, as one or more mass storage devices (e.g., physical disks,logical volumes, etc.) configured to store data blocks or files, or inany other suitable configuration for data storage.

Various embodiments may also include an authoritative itemidentification component 150, which may be configured to generate and/ormaintain item identifier data 170, which may be utilized to identifyunits within the materials handling facility (e.g., for a given unit,determine that the unit is a unit of a particular item). Item identifierdata 170 may include mappings of assigned identifiers to particularphysical identifiers.

As used herein, the phrase “assigned identifier” may refer to anidentifier utilized by the illustrated systems to identify a particularitem. For instance, inventory planning and control system may identifyitems by corresponding assigned identifiers. For example, inventorymodel 185 may include a listing of assigned identifiers corresponding toparticular items; such model may also include, for each assignedidentifier, a respective quantity of units of the item corresponding tothat assigned identifier. In various embodiments, an assigned identifiermay be a global identifier utilized to identify items across multiplematerials handling facilities (such as materials handling facility 100)in a distribution network. In some embodiments, materials handlingfacility 100 may be part of a distribution network utilized to fulfillorders placed through an e-commerce portal; the aforesaid assignedidentifiers may be utilized to identify items within the framework ofthe e-commerce portal.

As used herein, the phrase “physical identifier” may refer to anidentifier utilized to identify a particular unit as being a unit of aparticular item. In various embodiments, a physical identifier may beattached or coupled to a unit (and/or packaging in which that unit ispacked). In various embodiments, physical identifiers may beelectronically obtained from units of items. For instance, a physicalidentifier may be an identifier that may be machine-readable via anoptical device (e.g., an optical scanner). One example of such aphysical identifier includes a barcode (or bar code), which may beelectronically obtained via a barcode scanner. Barcodes may be expressedaccording to various barcode symbologies including but not limited toUniversal Product Code (UPC) and European Article Number (EAN). Invarious embodiments, other barcode symbologies or standards may beutilized, whether presently known or developed in the future. In variousembodiments, physical identifiers may include any other type ofidentifier that may be electronically obtained from a unit. Forinstance, in some embodiments, items may be tagged with radio-frequencyidentification (RFID) tags, which may be electronically obtained with anRFID scanner. In various embodiments, physical identifiers other thanbarcodes and RFIDs may be utilized, whether techniques for implementingsuch physical identifiers are presently known or developed in thefuture.

Physical identifiers may be applied (e.g., attached, affixed, coupled,etc.) to a unit throughout any portion of the unit's lifecycle. Forinstance, a manufacturer may apply a physical identifier to a unit byincluding such identifier on the packaging of the unit (e.g., a UPC codeprinted on item packaging). In some cases, a vendor (e.g., a vendor thatsources units from manufacturers) may apply a physical identifier to aunit for various record keeping purposes. In other cases, the vendor mayutilize a physical identifier applied by a manufacturer from which theunit was sourced.

In various embodiments, for a given item (of multiple items processed bymaterials handling facility 100), item identifier data 170 may include arecord that indicates that item's assigned identifier as well as one ormore corresponding physical identifiers for that item. Such physicalidentifiers may be obtained through a variety of techniques. Asdescribed above, physical identifiers may be determined byelectronically obtaining such identifiers from units of a particularitem. In some cases, physical identifiers may be obtained by receivinginformation from one or more external data sources, such as a databaseof aggregated physical identifiers for various items.

In some cases, a unit received at receiving 80 may include multiplephysical identifiers (e.g., multiple barcodes affixed to packaging ofthe unit). In some cases, some of the multiple physical identifiers maynot be unique across different types of items. For instance, a physicalidentifier might be an identifier for a heterogeneous lot of units(i.e., a group of units including units of different items) utilized bya vendor that supplies units to materials handling facility 100. In suchcases, conventional systems might prompt an agent to match a receivedunit to a particular item by requesting the agent select a particularitem from a list items (e.g., a list of items associated with theheterogeneous lot of units). If an agent selects an incorrect item thatdoes not represent the unit under evaluation, multiple errors may beintroduced by the receiving process. For example, a control system ofthe materials handling facility may route the unit to an incorrectinventory location based on the agent's erroneous selection.Furthermore, an inventory model of the control system may be updatedbased on the agent's erroneous selection. Such inconsistencies betweenphysical inventory and a corresponding inventory model may in some casescause inconsistencies in any business process that relies on such model.For example, an e-commerce portal that offers units of items for salebased on such an inventory model may carry out a transaction for a unitthat is not actually held in inventory (i.e., the unit is out-of-stockeven though the inventory model may indicate that the unit is in-stock).The implications of such inconsistencies (e.g., refunds or exchangesperformed as a result of out-of-stock items and/or longer wait times forunits that are eventually replenished) may provide a generally negativeexperience for customers.

The authoritative item identification component 150 may prevent orreduce situations in which an agent must be relied on to perform manualmatching of received units to inventory items thereby negating ormitigating the aforesaid inconsistencies between physical inventory anda model of such inventory. Authoritative item identification component150 may generate item identifier data 170, which may include, for eachof multiple items, a corresponding authoritative identifier that may berelied on to accurately identify items (e.g., as may be performed duringreceiving 80). The manner in which authoritative item identificationcomponent 150 may generate or determine an authoritative identifier fora particular item is described in more detail below. In regard tosituations in which an agent electronically obtains a physicalidentifier that maps to multiple items, the authoritative identifiersdescribed herein may prevent or mitigate such situations by in manycases providing a definitive identifier for a particular item.Additionally, control system 160 may enforce policies during receiving80 that require an agent to electronically obtain each physicalidentifier of a unit until a physical identifier that matches anauthoritative identifier is found. In cases where no physical identifieris found that matches an authoritative identifier of item identifierdata 170, one or more exception handling processes may be performed tomanually enter identifiers for that unit into item identifier data 170,as described in more detail below.

FIG. 2 illustrates one example of item identifier data 170, according tosome embodiments. Item identifier data 170 may include, for each ofmultiple items, an assigned identifier as well as one or more physicalidentifiers associated with that assigned identifier (and the itemidentified by the assigned identifier). As described above, physicalidentifiers may be electronically obtained from corresponding itemsand/or obtained from one or more data sources (e.g., a vendor's or otherthird party's database of identifiers for items supplied by thatvendor). In FIG. 2, data structure 200 is illustrated as storingmultiple rows, each of which may represent a record that includes anassigned identifier for a particular item as well as one or morecorresponding physical identifiers associated with that particular item.

As illustrated, data structure 200 also includes a usage rate for eachphysical identifier. In the illustrated embodiments, the usage rate of agiven physical identifier is represented as a percentage correspondingto the quantity of instances in which that physical identifier waselectronically obtained from units of the corresponding item (e.g., theitem identified by the assigned identifier of the same row). Forexample, according to the data of the illustrated data structurecorresponding to the item identified by assigned identifier B000JNYWBG,physical identifier 885909121793 represents 92% of all physicalidentifiers electronically obtained for that item.

In various embodiments, physical identifiers may be electronicallyobtained as part of performing various operations within materialshandling facility 100. For example, during picking 40, agents may obtainpick lists that specify one or more units of particular items that areto be picked from inventory. In various embodiments, each time an agentis requested to pick a unit of a particular item, authoritative itemidentification component 150 may generate a record of the physicalidentifier that is electronically obtained in response to such request.Based on such data, the authoritative item identification component 150may generate the usage rates illustrated as part of data structure 200.In addition to pick lists, various other operations within materialshandling facility 100 may include an agent handling a unit of aparticular item for various purposes. For example, agents may handle anitem as part of picking 40, sorting 50, and packing 60. In variousembodiments, each time an agent is requested to handle a unit of aparticular item, the authoritative item identification component 150 mayrecord the physical identifier scanned by the agent in response to theitem handling request. The collection of data corresponding to datastructure 200 is described in more detail below with respect to FIGS. 3and 4. Also note that item identifier data 170 may in variousembodiments be updated periodically or aperiodically throughout thecourse of operations of the materials handling facility. In this way,authoritative item identification component 150 may be configured toidentify authoritative identifiers for various items based on the mostrecent version of item identifier data 170.

FIG. 3 illustrates one example of an item handling request performed ona unit 300 that includes multiple physical identifiers 302 a-c, whichmay be collectively referred to as physical identifiers 302. In theillustrated example, an agent 306 may utilize an identifier reader 304configured to electronically obtain a stored representation of any ofphysical identifiers 302. For instance, physical identifiers 302 mightbe barcodes and identifier reader 304 might be a barcode readerconfigured to optically capture physical identifiers 302 and store suchidentifiers as data within memory of the reader. In another example,physical identifiers 302 might be RFID tags and identifier reader 304might be an RFID reader. In other cases, other types of physicalidentifiers and/or identifier readers may be utilized, whether suchelements are presently known or developed in the future. In some cases,information obtained via reader 304 may be provided to the varioussystems of FIG. 1, such as control system 160, authoritative itemidentification component 150 and/or inventory planning and controlsystem 180. The utilization of identifier information by such systems isdescribed in more detail below.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for collecting and updating data for usagerates of physical identifiers associated with a particular item. Asillustrated by block 400, the method may include issuing an itemhandling request for a unit of a particular item. For instance, in oneembodiment, the method may include generating a pick request to pick aparticular item from inventory. For instance, the method may includeissuing an item handling request, such as that described above withrespect to FIG. 3. In general, an item handling request may include arequest to handle a unit of a particular item for any reason includingbut not limited to picking, sorting, and/or packing. As illustrated byblock 402, the method may also include determining a physical identifierelectronically obtained in response to the item handling request ofblock 400. For instance, in the context of FIG. 3, the method mayinclude determining that physical identifier 302 c was electronicallyobtained in response to the item handling request. As illustrated byblock 402, the method may also include updating the usage rates ofphysical identifiers associated with the particular item. For instance,the method may include updating usage rates similar to those describedabove with respect to data structure 200. As described in more detailbelow, the usage rates described herein may be utilized to determineauthoritative identifiers.

Returning to FIG. 2, item identifier data 170 may also include a datastructure 202 that includes authoritative identifiers for each ofmultiple items. In various embodiments, the authoritative itemidentification component 150 may be configured to generate suchauthoritative identifiers based on operations information, such as theusage rates of physical identifiers (e.g., the usage rates stored withindata structure 200). For example, authoritative item identificationcomponent 150 may be configured to, for each particular item of multipleitems in inventory (e.g., the inventory items identified by assignedidentifiers B000JNYWBG, B000XGJH1O, B000WOIG8C), the authoritative itemidentification component may be configured to determine a quantity ofinstances in which that identifier was electronically obtained (seee.g., FIG. 3) from a unit of that particular item. For instance, theauthoritative item identification component may be configured to monitorwhich physical identifier an agent captures in response to an itemhandling request (e.g., pick request, sort request, etc.) for aparticular item. In various embodiments, this data may be aggregated andstored in a data store (e.g., item identifier data 170).

The authoritative item identification component may also be configuredto perform a statistical analysis of the aforesaid information. Forinstance, the authoritative item identification component may beconfigured to generate the usage rates illustrated in data structure 200by determining, for a given item (e.g., as identified by its respectiveassigned identifier), a statistical distribution of the use of eachphysical identifier associated with the given item. For example, theauthoritative item identification component may determine thathistorically, when provided with an item handling request for aparticular item, an agent scans identifier 885909121793 in 92% of suchinstances, identifier 998521754236 in 3% of such instances, identifier57942517320 in 2% of such instance, identifier 102478349666 in 2% ofsuch instances, and identifier 1957374510 in 1% of such instances. Basedon such analysis, the authoritative item identification component may beconfigured to select or otherwise determine an authoritative identifierfrom such physical identifiers. For example, the authoritative itemidentification component may be configured to, for a given item,determine that an authoritative identifier for a given item isequivalent to the physical identifier having the highest usage rate(e.g., when compared to the usage rates of the other physicalidentifiers for the given item). For instance, for the item identifiedby assigned identifier B000JNYWBG, the authoritative item identificationcomponent may determine that the authoritative identifier for that itemis to be equivalent to the physical identifier 885909121793, which isthe physical identifier having the highest usage rate when compared tousage rates of the other physical identifiers. As illustrated in FIG. 2,the authoritative item identification component 150 may be configured togenerate a data structure 202 that include authoritative itemidentifiers generated according to the techniques described herein. Insome embodiments, instead of creating a separate data structure, theauthoritative item identification component may be configured to modifydata structure 200 by removing or “deprecating” one or more physicalidentifiers that are not determined to be authoritative identifiers fora particular item. In some embodiments, the removal of physicalidentifiers may also be performed in response to agent input, such as inresponse to an indication that a particular physical identifier is notan authoritative identifier for a particular item.

Authoritative item identifiers generated according to the techniquesdescribed herein may be utilized to prevent inconsistencies betweenphysical inventory (e.g., inventory 30) and a corresponding inventorymodel (e.g., inventory model 185). By preventing such inconsistencies,various embodiments may prevent or reduce errors in business processesthat rely on such inventory model. For instance, consider a case wheredata structure 200 is utilized to identify item B000JNYWBG (see e.g.,FIG. 2) received at receiving stage 80. Note that some of the physicalidentifiers of data structure 200 are not necessarily unique for to eachitem. For instance, physical identifier 1957374510 is associated witheach of items B000JNYWBG, B000XGJH1O, B000WOIG8C. If a receiving agentwere to electronically obtain the physical identifier 1957374510 whileattempting to identify the unit at receiving stage 80, a conventionalsystem might present the agent with a list of multiple items thatcorrespond to that physical identifier, from which the agent may selecta particular item believed to be the correct item for the unit underevaluation. As described above, if an agent selects an incorrect item,this process may in some cases introduce inconsistencies between actualinventory and the corresponding inventory model. In some embodiments,the authoritative item identification component may prevent theaforesaid situation by generating data structure 202, which specifiesauthoritative identifiers for items of inventory. By utilizing this dataset, various embodiments may prevent or mitigate the need to prompt anagent for a selection of an item from a listing of multiple items, andthus prevent or mitigate errors introduced by such selection. Forinstance, consider a scenario similar to that described above where anagent electronically obtains physical identifier 1957374510 whileattempting to identify a unit at receiving stage 80. Instead ofpresenting the agent with a selection of multiple items (since thatphysical identifier maps to multiple items), authoritative itemidentification component may enforce a policy that requires the agent toscan another physical identifier until an authoritative identifier isfound, such as an authoritative identifier of data structure 202. (If noauthoritative identifier is found, the unit may be sent to an exceptionhandling process to determine its identity.)

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method for enforcing such a policy. Asillustrated by block 500, the method includes receiving a physicalidentifier electronically obtained from a unit. For instance, the methodmay include receiving a physical identifier that is electronicallyobtained from a unit during a receiving process (e.g., receiving 80). Asillustrated block 510, the method may also include determining whetherthe physical identifier matches an identifier of an authoritativeidentifier list, an example of which includes data structure 202described above. As indicated by the positive output of block 510, ifthe physical identifier matches an identifier of the authoritativeidentifier list, the method may include updating an inventory model(e.g., inventory model 185) with respect to the item corresponding tothat matching authoritative identifier (block 520). For instance, theinventory model may be updated to reflect a larger unit quantity of theitem corresponding to the matching authoritative identifier. Asindicated by the negative output of block 510, if the physicalidentifier does not match an identifier of the authoritative identifierlist, the method may include determining whether the unit includesadditional physical identifiers that have not been evaluated (block512). For instance, the method may include prompting an agent todetermine whether the unit includes additional physical identifiers(e.g., barcodes, RFID tags, etc.) and, if so, instructing the agent toelectronically obtain an additional physical identifier from the unit.As illustrated by the negative output of block 512, if the unit does notinclude additional physical identifiers that have not been evaluated,the method may include performing an exception handling process for theunit (block 514). For example, such an exception handling process mayinclude manually identifying the unit and updating the inventory modelsubsequent to such identification. As illustrated by the positive outputof block 512, if the unit includes an additional physical identifierthat has not been evaluated, the method may include receiving suchphysical identifier (block 516). From block 516, the method may returnto block 510 to evaluate the next physical identifier.

Various embodiments may utilize authoritative identifiers in order toavoid the physical inventory—inventory model inconsistencies describedabove. FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example method fordetermining authoritative identifiers for items as well as using suchauthoritative identifiers to identify a particular unit as being a unitof a particular item. Note that in various embodiments, theauthoritative item identification component 150 may be configured toperform the method of FIG. 6 (as well as any other method describedherein). As illustrated by blocks 600 and 608, portions of the methodmay be performed for each particular item of one or more items ininventory of a materials handling facility (e.g., inventory 30). Asillustrated by block 602, the method may include determining multipleidentifiers for the particular item, one or more of which areelectronically obtained from a unit of the particular item duringoperations of the materials handling facility. For example, in variousembodiments, the method may include obtaining physical identifiers fromone or more data sources (e.g., a vendor's database of identifiers foritems supplied by that vendor). In another example, the method mayinclude electronically obtaining a physical identifier from units ofitems, such as described above with respect to FIG. 3. In one example,determining multiple identifiers for a particular item may includedetermining physical identifiers for a particular item, such asdescribed above with respect to data structure 200.

As illustrated by block 604, the method may include, for each of themultiple identifiers, determining a quantity of instances in which thatidentifier was electronically obtained from a given unit of theparticular item. For instance, each time an agent responds to an itemhandling request for the particular item (e.g., a pick request, sortrequest, etc.), the method may include determining which physicalidentifier the agent electronically obtains in response to such request.Over multiple item handling requests, the method may include, for eachphysical identifier electronically obtained by one or more agents,determining the number of times that physical identifier waselectronically obtained. For instance, for multiple requests to pick aparticular item from inventory 30, the method may include determiningthe frequency with which agents electronically obtain various physicalidentifiers. In some cases, agents overwhelmingly electronically obtainparticular physical identifiers more than others, in which case thoseparticular identifiers may be determined to be authoritative identifiersfor their corresponding items, as described in more detail below.

As illustrated by block 606, the method may include, based on astatistical analysis of the determined quantities, determining one ormore of the multiple identifiers as being authoritative identifiers forthe particular item. For example, the method may include determining thestatistical distribution of different physical identifiers scanned inresponse to item handling requests (e.g., pick request, sort requests,etc.) for that particular item. One example of such a statisticaldistribution is illustrated by the usage rates described above withrespect to data structure 200. In various embodiments, determining anidentifier as being an authoritative identifier may include determiningthat that identifier is the most frequently obtained identifier for aparticular item. For instance, the method may include determining thatagents overwhelmingly electronically obtain particular physicalidentifiers more than others for a particular item (e.g., determiningthat agents tend to scan particular barcodes more than other barcodesfor multiple units of a particular item), in which case that particularidentifier may be determined to be an authoritative identifier for thecorresponding item.

In some embodiments, multiple authoritative identifiers may bedetermined for the same item. For instance, in some cases, units of thesame item may be sourced from different vendors. In some cases, eachvendor might provide the materials handling facility with units thatinclude a physical identifier different than that of the units providedby the other vendor. Such cases may result in multiple statisticallysignificant physical identifiers, each of which may be determined to bean authoritative identifier for the same item.

As illustrated by block 610, the method may also include identifying aparticular unit as being a unit of a particular item in inventory basedon a comparison of an identifier electronically obtained from theparticular unit and one or more of the determined identifiers. Forinstance, the particular unit might be a unit received at receiving 30;the method may include comparing a physical identifier (e.g., a barcodeor RFID) from the particular unit to a list of authoritativeidentifiers, such as described above with respect to block 510 of FIG.5. In response to determining a match between that physical identifierand an authoritative identifier, the method may include determining thatthe particular unit is a unit of an item that corresponds to thematching authoritative identifier.

Various embodiments of a system and method for authoritative itemidentification based on facility operations, as described herein, may beexecuted on one or more computer systems, which may interact withvarious other devices. One such computer system is computer system 900illustrated by FIG. 7, which in the illustrated example may implementauthoritative item identification component 150 of FIG. 1. Computersystem 900 may be capable of implementing other elements of FIG. 1, suchas inventory planning and control system 180 and control system 160. Inthe illustrated embodiment, computer system 900 includes one or moreprocessors 910 coupled to a system memory 920 via an input/output (I/O)interface 930. Computer system 900 further includes a network interface940 coupled to I/O interface 930, and one or more input/output devices950, such as cursor control device 960, keyboard 970, and display(s)980. In some embodiments, it is contemplated that embodiments may beimplemented using a single instance of computer system 900, while inother embodiments multiple such systems, or multiple nodes making upcomputer system 900, may be configured to host different portions orinstances of embodiments. For example, in one embodiment some elementsmay be implemented via one or more nodes of computer system 900 that aredistinct from those nodes implementing other elements.

In various embodiments, computer system 900 may be a uniprocessor systemincluding one processor 910, or a multiprocessor system includingseveral processors 910 (e.g., two, four, eight, or another suitablenumber). Processors 910 may be any suitable processor capable ofexecuting instructions. For example, in various embodiments processors910 may be general-purpose or embedded processors implementing any of avariety of instruction set architectures (ISAs), such as the x86,PowerPC, SPARC, or MIPS ISAs, or any other suitable ISA. Inmultiprocessor systems, each of processors 910 may commonly, but notnecessarily, implement the same ISA.

System memory 920 may be configured to store program instructions 922and/or data 932 accessible by processor 910. In various embodiments,system memory 920 may be implemented using any suitable memorytechnology, such as static random access memory (SRAM), synchronousdynamic RAM (SDRAM), nonvolatile/Flash-type memory, or any other type ofmemory. In the illustrated embodiment, program instructions and dataimplementing an authoritative item identification component, suchauthoritative item identification component 150 described above, areshown stored within system memory 920. Additionally, item identifierdata 170 (which may be generated by authoritative item identificationcomponent 150) may be stored with data 932 of memory 920. Such itemidentifier data may include any of the data structures described above(e.g., data structures 200 and 202) as well as any other resultsgenerated by the authoritative item identification component describedabove. In other embodiments, program instructions and/or data may bereceived, sent or stored upon different types of computer-accessiblemedia or on similar media separate from system memory 920 or computersystem 900. Generally speaking, a computer-accessible medium may includestorage media or memory media such as magnetic or optical media, e.g.,disk or CD/DVD-ROM coupled to computer system 900 via I/O interface 930.Program instructions and data stored via a computer-accessible mediummay be transmitted by transmission media or signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals, which may be conveyed via acommunication medium such as a network and/or a wireless link, such asmay be implemented via network interface 940.

In one embodiment, I/O interface 930 may be configured to coordinate I/Otraffic between processor 910, system memory 920, and any peripheraldevices in the computer system, including network interface 940 or otherperipheral interfaces, such as input/output devices 950. In someembodiments, I/O interface 930 may perform any necessary protocol,timing or other data transformations to convert data signals from onecomponent (e.g., system memory 920) into a format suitable for use byanother component (e.g., processor 910). In some embodiments, I/Ointerface 930 may include support for devices attached through varioustypes of peripheral buses, such as a variant of the Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI) bus standard or the Universal Serial Bus (USB)standard, for example. In some embodiments, the function of I/Ointerface 930 may be split into two or more separate components, such asa north bridge and a south bridge, for example. Also, in someembodiments some or all of the functionality of I/O interface 930, suchas an interface to system memory 920, may be incorporated directly intoprocessor 910.

Network interface 940 may be configured to allow data to be exchangedbetween computer system 900 and other devices attached to a network orbetween nodes of computer system 900. In various embodiments, networkinterface 940 may support communication via wired or wireless generaldata networks, such as any suitable type of Ethernet network, forexample; via telecommunications/telephony networks such as analog voicenetworks or digital fiber communications networks; via storage areanetworks such as Fibre Channel SANs, or via any other suitable type ofnetwork and/or protocol.

Input/output devices 950 may, in some embodiments, include one or moredisplay terminals, keyboards, keypads, touchpads, scanning devices,voice or optical recognition devices, or any other devices suitable forentering or accessing data by one or more computer systems 900. Multipleinput/output devices 950 may be present in computer system 900 or may bedistributed on various nodes of computer system 900. In someembodiments, similar input/output devices may be separate from computersystem 900 and may interact with one or more nodes of computer system900 through a wired or wireless connection, such as over networkinterface 940.

As shown in FIG. 7, memory 920 may include program instructions 922configured to implement a authoritative item identification component,such as authoritative item identification component 150. In oneembodiment, authoritative item identification component 150 mayimplement the methods described above, such as the methods illustratedby FIGS. 4-6. In other embodiments, different elements and data may beincluded.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that computer system 900 ismerely illustrative and is not intended to limit the scope ofembodiments. In particular, the computer system and devices may includeany combination of hardware or software that can perform the indicatedfunctions, including computers, network devices, Internet appliances,PDAs, wireless phones, pagers, etc. Computer system 900 may also beconnected to other devices that are not illustrated, or instead mayoperate as a stand-alone system. In addition, the functionality providedby the illustrated components may in some embodiments be combined infewer components or distributed in additional components. Similarly, insome embodiments, the functionality of some of the illustratedcomponents may not be provided and/or other additional functionality maybe available.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that, while various itemsare illustrated as being stored in memory or on storage while beingused, these items or portions of them may be transferred between memoryand other storage devices for purposes of memory management and dataintegrity. Alternatively, in other embodiments some or all of thesoftware components may execute in memory on another device andcommunicate with the illustrated computer system via inter-computercommunication. Some or all of the system components or data structuresmay also be stored (e.g., as instructions or structured data) on acomputer-accessible medium or a portable article to be read by anappropriate drive, various examples of which are described above. Insome embodiments, instructions stored on a computer-accessible mediumseparate from computer system 900 may be transmitted to computer system900 via transmission media or signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication mediumsuch as a network and/or a wireless link. Various embodiments mayfurther include receiving, sending or storing instructions and/or dataimplemented in accordance with the foregoing description upon acomputer-accessible medium. Accordingly, various embodiments may bepracticed with other computer system configurations.

The methods described herein may be implemented in software, hardware,or a combination thereof, in different embodiments. In addition, theorder of the blocks of the methods may be changed, and various elementsmay be added, reordered, combined, omitted, modified, etc. Variousmodifications and changes may be made as would be obvious to a personskilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. The variousembodiments described herein are meant to be illustrative and notlimiting. Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvementsare possible. Accordingly, plural instances may be provided forcomponents described herein as a single instance. Boundaries betweenvarious components, operations and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in the context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within the scope of claims that follow. Finally,structures and functionality presented as discrete components in theexemplary configurations may be implemented as a combined structure orcomponent. These and other variations, modifications, additions, andimprovements may fall within the scope of embodiments as defined in theclaims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: foreach particular item of a plurality of items in inventory of a materialshandling facility: determining, by one or more computer processors aplurality of identifiers for the particular item, wherein said pluralityof identifiers are electronically obtained from a unit of the particularitem during operations of the materials handling facility; for each ofsaid plurality of identifiers, determining, by one or more computerprocessors, a respective quantity of instances in which that identifierwas electronically obtained from a plurality of given units of theparticular item, wherein a different respective quantity of instances isdetermined for each identifier; and based on a statistical analysis ofsaid quantities, determining, by one or more computer processors, one ofsaid plurality of identifiers as being an authoritative identifier forthe particular item; updating, by one or more computer processors, anitem identifier record of the item to reflect the determined identifieras the authoritative identifier of the item; and identifying, by one ormore computer processors, a particular unit as being a unit of aparticular item of said plurality of items based on a comparison of anidentifier electronically obtained from said particular unit and saiditem identifier record.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein for at least the particular item of the plurality of items ininventory of the materials handling facility, the respective pluralityof identifiers are stored within a data store as a set of identifiersfor the particular item; wherein the method comprises: modifying saidset of identifiers by removing one or more identifiers that are notdetermined to be authoritative identifiers for the particular item fromsaid set of identifiers.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,wherein said comparison of the identifier electronically obtained fromthe particular unit and the one or more of the determined authoritativeidentifiers comprises a comparison of the identifier electronicallyobtained from the particular unit and the modified set of identifiers.4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said identifierelectronically obtained from said particular unit is obtained as part ofan inventory receive process performed at the materials handlingfacility.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein theparticular unit includes multiple identifiers available to beelectronically obtained from the unit, the method comprising:determining that an agent has electronically obtained an identifier fromthe particular unit that is not an authoritative identifier, and inresponse to that determination generating a request to electronicallyobtain another identifier from the particular unit.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising: in response toidentifying the particular unit as being a unit of the particular itemof said plurality of items, updating an inventory record correspondingto the particular item to indicate that a unit of that particular itemhas been received.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein for each of at least some of the plurality of items in inventoryof the materials handling facility, said plurality of identifierscomprise one or more identifiers obtained from third-party entities. 8.The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein said third-partyentities include at least one vendor that provides inventory items tothe materials handling facility.
 9. A system, comprising: one or moreprocessors; and a memory coupled to the one or more processors, whereinthe memory stores program instruction executable by the one or moreprocessors to: for each particular item of a plurality of items ininventory of a materials handling facility: determine a plurality ofidentifiers for the particular item, wherein said plurality ofidentifiers are electronically obtained from a unit of the particularitem during operations of the materials handling facility; for each ofsaid plurality of identifiers, determine a respective quantity ofinstances in which that identifier was electronically obtained from aplurality of given units of the particular item, wherein a differentrespective quantity of instances is determined for each identifier; andbased on a statistical analysis of said quantities, determine one ofsaid plurality of identifiers as being an authoritative identifier forthe particular item; updating an item identifier record of the item toreflect the determined identifier as the authoritative identifier of theitem; and identify a particular unit as being a unit of a particularitem of said plurality of items based on a comparison of an identifierelectronically obtained from said particular unit and said itemidentifier record.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein for at least theparticular item of the plurality of items in inventory of the materialshandling facility, the respective plurality of identifiers are storedwithin a data store as a set of identifiers for the particular item;wherein the program instructions are configured to: modify said set ofidentifiers by removing one or more identifiers that are not determinedto be authoritative identifiers for the particular item from said set ofidentifiers.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein said comparison of theidentifier electronically obtained from the particular unit and the oneor more of the determined authoritative identifiers comprises acomparison of the identifier electronically obtained from the particularunit and the modified set of identifiers.
 12. The system of claim 9,wherein said identifier electronically obtained from said particularunit is obtained as part of an inventory receive process performed atthe materials handling facility.
 13. The system of claim 9, wherein theparticular unit includes multiple identifiers available to beelectronically obtained from the unit, wherein the program instructionsare configured to: determine that an agent has electronically obtainedan identifier from the particular unit that is not an authoritativeidentifier, and in response to that determination generate a request toelectronically obtain another identifier from the particular unit. 14.The system of claim 9, wherein the program instruction are configuredto: in response to identifying the particular unit as being a unit ofthe particular item of said plurality of items, update an inventoryrecord corresponding to the particular item to indicate that a unit ofthat particular item has been received.
 15. The system of claim 9,wherein for each of at least some of the plurality of items in inventoryof the materials handling facility, said plurality of identifierscomprise one or more identifiers obtained from third-party entities. 16.The system of claim 15, wherein said third-party entities include atleast one vendor that provides inventory items to the materials handlingfacility.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storingprogram instructions computer-executable to: for each particular item ofa plurality of items in inventory of a materials handling facility:determine a plurality of identifiers for the particular item, wherein ofsaid plurality of identifiers are electronically obtained from a unit ofthe particular item during operations of the materials handlingfacility; for each of said plurality of identifiers, determine arespective quantity of instances in which that identifier waselectronically obtained from a plurality of given units of theparticular item, wherein a different respective quantity of instances isdetermined for each different identifier; and based on a statisticalanalysis of said quantities, determine one of said plurality ofidentifiers as being an authoritative identifier for the particularitem; updating an item identifier record of the item to reflect thedetermined identifier as the authoritative identifier of the item; andidentify a particular unit as being a unit of a particular item of saidplurality of items based on a comparison of an identifier electronicallyobtained from said particular unit and said item identifier record. 18.The medium of claim 17, wherein for at least the particular item of theplurality of items in inventory of the materials handling facility, therespective plurality of identifiers are stored within a data store as aset of identifiers for the particular item; wherein the programinstructions are configured to: modify said set of identifiers byremoving one or more identifiers that are not determined to beauthoritative identifiers for the particular item from said set ofidentifiers.
 19. The medium of claim 18, wherein said comparison of theidentifier electronically obtained from the particular unit and the oneor more of the determined authoritative identifiers comprises acomparison of the identifier electronically obtained from the particularunit and the modified set of identifiers.
 20. The medium of claim 17,wherein said identifier electronically obtained from said particularunit is obtained as part of an inventory receive process performed atthe materials handling facility.
 21. The medium of claim 17, wherein theparticular unit includes multiple identifiers available to beelectronically obtained from the unit, wherein the program instructionsare configured to: determine that an agent has electronically obtainedan identifier from the particular unit that is not an authoritativeidentifier, and in response to that determination generate a request toelectronically obtain another identifier from the particular unit. 22.The medium of claim 17, wherein the program instruction are configuredto: in response to identifying the particular unit as being a unit ofthe particular item of said plurality of items, update an inventoryrecord corresponding to the particular item to indicate that a unit ofthat particular item has been received.
 23. The medium of claim 17,wherein for each of at least some of the plurality of items in inventoryof the materials handling facility, said plurality of identifierscomprise one or more identifiers obtained from third-party entities. 24.The medium of claim 23, wherein said third-party entities include atleast one vendor that provides inventory items to the materials handlingfacility.